Better-Than-Store-Bought Cranberry Sauce

I love homemade cranberry sauce! Growing up, my father was the one who made the cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving holidays, using only cranberries, sugar and water. My mother doesn’t like cranberry seeds in her sauce, so he has always been careful to sieve them out of the finished product. Love is in the little things sometimes, yes? Personally, I don’t care if there are seeds in my cranberry sauce. Or skins, for that matter. Makes it SO much easier to make! How much easier? Well, let me tell you!

So. Easy. You literally dump the ingredients in a pot, boil for 20 minutes, blend with an immersion blender, and bam, sauce! High in vitamin C, plus the added benefit of the fibre from the skins. If you’ve only ever had store-bought cranberry sauce, try this recipe — it’ll make you a believer in scratch cooking!

Let’s get saucy!

Easier-Than-Store-Bought Cranberry Sauce

• 1 pkg. cranberries
• 1 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. water
• 3/4 tbsp. lemon juice

Dump all the ingredients in a pot and heat over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the pot boils and becomes frothy, all the berries will have been cooked and will have split open. Remove from heat and blend using an immersion blender. Let cool — it will gel as it cools. Serve as a side with meat, or on toast points for brekkie!

You actually can leave out the lemon juice if you want, and reduce the sugar slightly, but I find the lemon adds a nice note. You could probably even stir in some lemon zest for a lemony tang. Or chunks of cooked apple for a cran-apple sauce. The possibilities are pretty endless! If you do add in a mix-in, leave a comment and tell us what you did; I’d love to hear!

This sauce will last for at least a week in the fridge, so it can be made beforehand, but fair warning, it disappears pretty quickly when people realize it can be used as jam! So I recommend on doubling the quantity, at the very least!

Next Post: Either Pumpkin Gnocchi or fancy Drunken Cupcakes (with Bailey’s Irish Cream). Add in a salad and a glass of something you fancy and you’ve got yourself a date night special!